Think for yourself.

Around 250 BC, a guy named Zeno proved by logic, that a plodding tortoise could best the known world's fleetest hero. As long as the tortoise was given a head start. Zeno's logic went like this. Whenever Achilles caught up to where the tortoise was, the tortoise would have moved a bit farther. Ergo, Achilles was doomed to lose.

But wait a minute. A little voice tells you something's wrong about this. Yet another voice says, 'do you think you're smarter than Zeno, a bona fide Greek philosopher and big-time thinker?'

So you accept Zeno's logic. Maybe even repeat it, parrot-like, to all your buddies.

That's too bad. You should have gone with your instincts. The truth is, Zeno was having some fun with you, using a form of bad logic called reductio ad absurdum. Simply put, if you start with a stupid premise, good logic will always lead you to a stupid conclusion.

So, always check your premise. And for heaven's sake, think for yourself.

Here's to Zeno. And here's to common sense.

JDF

Thursday, August 5, 2010

You're a racist, I think.

It's the latest debate technique. When someone disagrees with you, call them a racist.

It's an accusation that permits no rejoinder. Denying it simply makes you appear phony.
Never mind that no one has ever found a racist bone in your body; absence of proof is not proof of absence.

No wonder people quail before so powerful a trebuchet. It's regularly leveled against politicians, pundits, security personnel, or even celebrities who need to be taken down a peg. All walk on eggshells to avoid the dreaded label of racist.

Of course it's hard to know when it's being falsely leveled. But it's not hard to know when it's being misapplied. The fact is, most people don't use the term correctly. You'd think that people using the term racist would at least know what a race is. Or isn't.

Here's a primer. There are three races of man. Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongaloid. They are based on distinctive, shared physical traits. 

If you are a member of one race and disparage another, simply because they belong to one of the other two, you, my friend, are a racist. Disparaging a member of your own race doesn't count.

For instance, whites can't be racist toward hispanics. Why? Because they're the same race. They differ only in their ethnicity.

An ethnic group is a people who share a common language and culture. If you speak Arabic and drink turkish coffee spiced with cardamom, you are an Arab. An Arab can be any religion. Muslim, Christian, or Jew.

But animadversion toward someone, based on their religion, is not racist. Nor is it an ethnic slur.

For example, a Christian engaging in ugly behavior toward a muslim, simply because he's a Muslim, doesn't make him racist. Nor is it an ethnic slur. It just makes him anti-semitic.

Do the same thing to a Jew, and you're not racist, ethnocentric, nor even anti-semitic.
Because Jews are not semites. In fact this is one of the most widespread misnomers in the world. No, religion-motivated ugliness toward a member of the 'tribe' is not racist, ethnocentric, nor anti-semitic. It is just low class. As is all personal attack.

Including spurious labels of racism.
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1 comment:

  1. RyanAugust 5, 2010 at 5:14 PM

    Are you under the impression that this is an original argument? It isn't. I also hope you're not trying to argue that "you've called me a racist to end the argument" is an argument that does permit rejoinder.

    I think if people started talking about actual issues and stopped trying to pull this talking point shit, something might actually get discussed.

    PS: Accusing someone of playing the race card doesn't excuse someone from racist behavior.

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